Best Funny Podcasts You Must Follow to Get a Comic Relief

When a real and live human voice with subtleties of emotion, inflexion, and emphasis, breathes life into the content, a podcast show connects and wins the listeners’ hearts. Some of the famous podcasts are those that are funny, whether they are interviews or discussions. Humorous content can give the listeners something to take their minds off their mundane lives; it’s something everyone needs once in a while. Here are some best comedy podcasts you must listen to if you enjoy humorous content.

Best Comedy Podcasts to Listen to

Most podcasts come in the form of episodic series similar to a TV show. Just as ancient storytellers were revered keepers of history, local knowledge, and traditions of their communities, podcasts have become quite a popular medium of storytelling in the 21st century. A user can download these digital audio files to a personal device for easy listening and enjoy them anytime.

Although podcasts were first done in the 1980s and were initially called ‘audio blogs’, ‘podcast’ as a genre grew in the year 2000 with the advent of portable audio devices such as the iPod. The concept of transferring these ‘audio blogs’ to an MP3 file also became mainstream only around this time.

With the proliferation of smartphones, podcasting services provide a convenient and time-efficient form of communication. Podcasts play a critical role in narrating abstract experiences and emotions to listeners whether they’re busy at work, attending household chores, walking their dogs, or commuting; podcasts allows one to multitask.

Podcasting has more opportunities for exciting tangents and divergences that make the listening more unpredictable. Perhaps best of all, you can tune in and out of a podcast. In case you love getting sucked into a true-crime thriller, catching up on the latest news, political events of the day, or following an absorbing story, innumerable comedy podcasts are trending to keep people engaged and entertained for hours.

As podcasts are growing in status to become our constant companions, we can relate to the powerful and mundane stories that the speaker shares through them. Depending on your interests and motivation, podcasts can illuminate us on a range of topics, inspire,  and stimulate our imagination. Here are some of the recommendations for the Top comedy podcast shows that would help to narrow your search. From the intelligent, delightfully absurd to clean comedy podcasts, they provide a good laugh and a much-needed stress relief for all ages.

1. Best Friends

Best Friends is a podcast hosted by Byer and her friend Sasheer Zamata, a writer, comedian, and actor. They put forward their real-life friendship in front of the mics, conduct quizzes, answer questions on friendship, and offer thoughtful advice. They even chat with guests on topics like throwing bacon against a wall to ensure that listeners have a good time after a long and hard day. Sometimes, just listening to two interesting humans who are unapologetic and enthusiastic about life is a “treat”.

2. How Did This Get Made

If you’re a bad movie fanatic or get infuriated and tortured by bad movies, then this comedy podcast is just perfect for you! Actors and co-hosts June Diane Raphael, Paul Scheer, and Jason Mantzoukas have fun tearing apart some of the worst movies and questioning how on earth they got made. Each episode of this podcast serves as a hilarious session for its listeners who share the same views about the movies.

3. Doughboys

Good food tastes better with good company. Doughboys podcast is just the show for those who enjoy fast food and friendship. Comedians and co-hosts, Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger, who like to be called “fast-food connoisseurs”, have been reviewing chain restaurants, including fast-casual food spots to sit-down dining since 2015 for this show. Apart from the delightful food banter about the new snack they try out, the hilarious recurring segments of this podcast also feature a weekly comedy or celebrity guest.

4. Comedy Bang Bang

Only a few pop-cultural endeavours, like this podcast, have met with success, as it remains one of the most influential and profoundly pleasurable comedy enterprises to date. Its host, Scott Aukerman, invites the funniest guests from the entertainment worlds to appear either as themselves or absurd fictional characters to participate in this talk show-meets-long-form-improv game and engage in comic revelry.

5. WTF With Marc Maron

This weekly podcast and radio show hosted by stand-up comedian, Marc Maron, has garnered global attention with more than six million downloads each month. With close to 1,000 episodes dating back to 2009, Maron’s podcast archive deeply reveals interviews with numerous lesser-known and iconic personalities, such as Ben Stiller, Lorne Michaels, Terry Gross, Robin Williams, Conan O’Brien, Keith Richards, and President Barack Obama. Not only is he forthcoming about his past fallacies and current flaws, Maron’s conversations often evoke surprising confessions as his guests narrate their lives with humour and honesty.

6. Why Won’t You Date Me?

Comedian and host Nicole Byer’s light-hearted and freewheeling interview style makes for some juicy conversations that explore the undeniably confusing world of dating. As she welcomes friends, experts, and occasionally exes, to discuss being single and the complexities of relationships, she asks them the most hard-hitting question of all “Would you date me?”

7. Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me

Produced by NPR, this weekly news radio panel podcast show features celebrities like Alison Janney and Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown, who join a rotating cast of the three panellists who are quizzed in humorous ways about that week’s current events. So, as you test your knowledge against some of the best and brightest in the news and entertainment world, you can differentiate between real and fake news.

8. Office Ladies

Office Ladies is the miniature version of NBC’s “The Office”. As former co-stars and real-life best friends Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey chat with special guests to break down each episode of the beloved workplace sitcom, they recollect behind-the-scenes incidences during the shoot of the episode. It is a treat for the fans looking for hilarious, first-hand commentary about life on set.

9. Welcome to Night Vale

Welcome to Night Vale is a delightfully eerie podcast series that offers a true escape from reality. As you get transported to the strange and fictional town of Night Vale, the host Cecil Gershwin Palmer reports the news, reads ads and makes important announcements about its inhabitants like the mysterious hooded figures, the local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff’s Secret Police, the Blood Space War, a roving entity made of a dangerous gas known as “the Glow Cloud”, and cultural events. A big part of the podcast’s fun comes from the great variety of paranormal and supernatural experiences it showcases. Yes, there are aliens and secret government conspiracies; at least the creators believe in them.

10. Keep It

If movies, celebrities, and pop culture fascinates you, Crooked Media’s podcast, “Keep It!”, hosted by Ira Madison III, Aida Osman, and Louis Virtel, is the perfect podcast for you. Full of sharp and witty cultural critiques and analysis, it aims to keep you up-to-date on the world’s latest events in an entertaining way. The podcast regularly features special guests such as comedians, actors, musicians, experienced journalists, activists, and other experts to discuss pressing topics that concern ordinary people.

11. Ask Me Another

Ask me another offers accessible recreation for the brain, with each show offering a balance of good humour, education, and insight into the minds of its hosts and guests. The host, Ophira Eisenberg, works well with the show’s musician Jonathan Coulton’s work to bring the right vibe to the podcast. Packed with interesting trivia, fun games, rib-tickling comedy, and celebrity guests, you’re bound to laugh and scream listening to their puns and jokes.

12. Jon Savage’s – What’s Your Poison?

Jon Savage, the host of this light-hearted and captivating show, speaks candidly to diverse individuals who have made waves in their respective fields. As the drinks are poured in, his guests start opening up about their vices, addiction, kink, or crime, what makes them successful, and also what the secrets to their universes are.

13. Dear Hank And John

Hank and John Green offer the most heartfelt and hilarious advice about life’s big and small questions from the audience. Usually, the brothers plug various fictional sponsors of the show humorously that reference topics from that week at some point in the question segment. From talking about the weekly news from the planet Mars and the 3rd tier English football club AFC Wimbledon, they bring their passions to each episode, making it incredibly entertaining.

14. The Jimmy Dore Show

The host, Jimmy Dore, is a political commentator and stand-up comedian who fearlessly criticises politicians as well as the hypocritical corporate mouthpieces, who make headlines on today’s mainstream news media. He is considered the passionate voice for progressives and freethinkers in 21st-century America. The program interviews top comedians and comedy writers to get their humorous take on all the current news.

15. Anna Farris Is Unqualified

The podcast hosted by actress Ann Ferris consists of interviews with improvisational comedic sketches with celebrities and cultural icons. It is comprised of series of questions centred on a hypothetical relationship or dating situations. In the second half of the show, she answers personal phone calls from listeners looking for relationship advice or suggestions on a personal dilemma and wishes to have “unqualified” suggestions.

16. Doug Loves Movies

When comedian Doug Benson invites his friends to sit down and discuss his first love, movies, there’s sure to be a laugh riot. This enjoyable and light comedy show with some fun movie-based games can kick all your worries out of the window and make you a film aficionado.

17. The World Of Phil Hendrie

This is a divinely hilarious satire of modern media. Phil Hendrie’s improvisational genius goes to work every day and impersonates actual celebrities and public figures. Phil creates an illusion reinforced by recorded background noises that simulate various locations, like a bowling alley, a restaurant kitchen, or even a washroom. Listeners unfamiliar with the show’s format are often duped into believing that the guests are real and are invited to call in to engage in conversation with them. He believes that the show was intended to draw the callers’ reactions to his “guests”, not the guests themselves and that he merely explains his perception about the ignorance of talk-radio listeners.

18. If I Were You

American comedy duo, Jake and Amir, offer advice in areas they’re “qualified” or “not so qualified” in this podcast. They usually read out questions or play audio questions emailed to them by listeners before the show. The listeners are offered a hilarious pseudonym, mostly belonging to a famous fictional character, and the hosts discuss their problems by brainstorming ideas, improvising upon situations, and summarising a conclusion of what you can do best. Genuinely funny and comfortable to listen to, it seems like you’re a part of the conversation between two friends next to you.

19. The Guilty Feminist

Comedian Deborah Frances-White hosts this award-winning podcast show. She welcomes her special guests to discuss stereotypical topics feminists agree on while confessing their insecurities and worst fears underlying their fundamental ideas recorded in front of a live audience. The presenters set themselves weekly challenges, and at the end of each episode, audience members are invited to ask the panel questions.

20. Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet

The hosts, Alex and Christine Schiefer are dedicated to making fun of strangers online who post hilarious reviews about restaurants, hotels, beaches, and casinos they have visited. Listeners are sure to be amused by the deliciously cheesy dramatic music accompanying these dramatic rants written in broken grammar. However, they also encourage listeners to visit the places they’re talking about.

Podcasting continues to thrive during the distressful pandemic, benefiting from less demanding production needs than movies or television. Crossing all hurdles and competing for new shows, podcasters kept going and meeting new milestones as its pool of potential favourites gets more prominent by the day. There were even talk of podcasts getting their Oscars, with an awards show set for early 2021. So, when you have an ever-expanding comedy-podcast universe with the funniest podcast shows catering to every sense of humour, you’re sure to be spoilt for choices. Happy listening!

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